Re: Thinking outside the box

On 3/17/2013 6:28 AM, Martijn Grooten wrote:
>> Once you have secure private delivery of messages using
>> public/private keys, you don't need to create a reputation system to
>> decide what to deliver. Each recipient will have a personal contacts
>> list and if the sender is not in that list the message won't be
>> opened. This starts the new dream system with zero receipt of spam
>> and therefore zero profit for spammers thus no spam. Every message
>> can be received and delivered to the users messaging agent.
> So that's kind of what sites like Facebook and Twitter already do with
> direct messages: you can only send them to someone who has added you as
> their friend or is following you.
>
> It's true that would stop the bulk of the spam being sent.
>
> It's also fairly trivial to build something like that on top of the
> existing SMTP infrastructure.
>
> It doesn't prevent spam sent via compromised accounts though.
>
> It also kills a lot of the current uses of email, which depend on more
> or less unsolicited emails being sent.
>
> Martijn.
>
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You don't want to kill the ability of a stranger to contact you. If I'm 
a vendor and I want new customers to email me then the system needs to 
make sure that can happen.

I like this process - throwing out ideas just to see what sticks.